BALTIMORE — Orioles general manager Mike Elias is preaching patience during what’s been another quiet offseason for Baltimore.
Spring training hasn’t arrived just yet.
“It’s been kind of a later, slower offseason than normal,” Elias said Thursday while meeting with reporters as the Orioles began their Birdland Caravan. “We’re working pretty furiously, but since we spoke at the winter meetings, just haven’t lined up on particular opportunities. But there’s still time for that.”
After a 101-win season, the Orioles entered the offseason with a small payroll and a great farm system, so in theory the defending AL East champions should have plenty of flexibility. But aside from signing veteran closer Craig Kimbrel, Baltimore hasn’t done much. The everyday lineup may not need help, but the starting rotation and bullpen can always use an upgrade.
Of course, there’s plenty of competition in that pursuit.
“I think the whole league, all 30 teams, have publicly stated that they’re looking for starting pitching. And it just speaks to the state of the sport and pitching, and the nature of it,” Elias said. “A pitcher fits on every team.”
Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish emerged last season as consistently effective starters down the stretch for the Orioles, and Dean Kremer won 13 games. John Means returned from Tommy John surgery.
But with young stars like catcher Adley Rutschman and infielder Gunnar Henderson already established in the big leagues — and top prospect Jackson Holliday on the way — there’s some pressure to maximize the window of contention created by one of the most impressive farm systems in recent baseball history.
Henderson, Holliday and Jordan Westburg — who made his debut last year — are all infielders. So are Joey Ortiz, who hit .321 at Triple-A Norfolk last season, and Coby Mayo, who hit 29 home runs across two minor league levels in 2023.
“When I got here we were talking about how we didn’t have any infielders, and now we’ve…
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